Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Instead
of standing in the council election for Stockwood (of which more
below) I'm the Green Party candidate in Brislington East this time
round. It looks like being a colourful election, because there's
another of those bizarre UKIP 'misunderstandings'.

One
Phil Collins has been busy putting his 'independent' leaflet out,
complete with the union flag, explaining that he's a UKIP member and
intends to form a UKIP branch in the ward. But he's not just up
against the usual electoral suspects, including me and the sitting
councillor Mike Wollacott. There's also an 'official' UKIP
candidate, John Langley, competing with him for whatever
anti-European, anti immigrant votes the ward can muster.

The
clash might be partly explained by this news item
from last year. Collins used to be UKIP's branch chairman, but like
so many of their spokesmen he was embarrassingly candid with his
anti-immigrant opinions, so they dropped him. Or did they? A
footnote to the Post story, added in an unusually sober style by
regular 'Post' commenter/ranter UKIPBristol, said the ban had been
withdrawn by the local UKIP branch.

You
have to wonder whether they've managed to sort it out over the last
year. Looks like they've not.

In
Stockwood, May's ballot paper is looking remarkably different, with
new faces – including Issica Baron for the Greens – filling the
list. Except, that is, for long-time Tory councillor David Morris,
who – much to many people's suprise – has decided to run for
another term in spite of poor health. If David should be
re-elected, we'll continue, as we have done for ten years and more,
to have a couple of councillors who (presumably) quietly get on with
whatever ward casework is required, but otherwise don't keep us
informed, refuse to expose themselves to public debate, and who
unfailingly vote with the Tory group on the council. You get what
you vote for. Or what you fail to vote against

One
reason I've abandoned another stab at the Stockwood seat is that
history shows I may well fail yet again. In itself that would be
bearable - but by standing down I won't have to worry that the
elected local councillors won't in future find cause to hamper and
delay my every attempt to get improvements in the ward, in case I
should turn it to electoral advantage. Such is the tribalism of
party politics.

I
hope that if elected in Bris E , I wouldn't fall into the same trap.
But it's a big factor in taking my name off the Stockwood ballot
paper. And I'm confident I could represent Brislington East every
bit as well as Stockwood.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Way
back, when the internet was young, the 34 countries of the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) was
secretively planning a bid to shift the balance of power away from
states (which, at least in theory, act in the interests of their
people) toward corporations (acting solely in the interests of their
owners) . It was called the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI).
Nominally in the cause of promoting economic growth, it set out to
'protect' foreign direct investment from interference from elected
governments.

The
internet killed the MAI. A copy of the draft text was leaked and
people realised what it could mean. Although the mainstream media
largely ignored it, the word spread around the world (I remember
setting up pages on the North-East Green Party website describing
what local impacts it could have). Eventually the resistance grew so
strong that the French government listened to what the people were
saying. France withdrew from the OECD negotiations, and no longer
having a consensus there the whole project was dropped.

Most
of the mainstream commentary on the TTIP has been on breaking down
tariff barriers to open up markets and encourage economic growth.
It's fairly uncritical, disregarding even the loss of discretion for
individual states to regulate on, for instance, safety, gm foods and
organisms, financial services regulation, or environmental
improvements. Such things are dismissed in the treaty as
impediments to the
'supreme,
inalienable fundamental freedom' to pursue economic competition.
Outside the specialist press and the internet, there's been very
little discussion about the provisions that encourage FDI (foreign
direct investment) by giving investors more confidence in being able
to produce what they like where they like and how they like without any risk that the
public authorities might get in the way.

Thus,
for instance, EDF could make a legal claim against the British
government if its profits from Hinkley B were threatened by new
safety or environmental regulation. Most of the train operating
companies, major bus companies, and airlines could do the same thing.
Tobacco companies could challenge legislation requiring plain
packaging on cigarettes (in fact Philip Morris are already doing
exactly that in a bizarre legal challenge designed to bypass
Australian national law using the 1993 Hong Kong/Australia Investment
Treaty)

Crucially,
such cases would be not be decided in a domestic court under British
law, or even a European Court under European law; they would be heard
by an international court set up solely for this purpose, passing
judgment solely on the basis of compliance (or not) with the terms of
the TTIP. The public good has damn all to do with it.

I
really don't know (though I could make an informed guess) how Tory,
Labour, or LibDem MEPs would vote.

I do know* how the Greens would
vote.

And I should know how UKIP ought to vote (if they turn up),
given the importance they attach to national sovereignty. But I
suspect they'd not object to this handover of power from elected governments, whether local, national, or European, to international corporatism.

* best summed up in this report from the two UK Green MEPs we already have

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Yes,
there's are elections coming up. Three of them. I'm a candidate in one.

But this time it's not in hope of representing Stockwood on the council, let
alone becoming a Euro-MP. This one's for the ultimate in
localisation, the Hengrove Stockwood and Whitchurch Neighbourhood
Partnership.

Up
to four residents can be elected, with voting open to all who live in
the ward. Last chance to vote will be on the afternoon of Thursday
29th May at the Library (2.30 till 4), but the ballot box
appears before that at the Ward Forum (Christ the Servant church, 7
till 8 on Thursday 8th May). That one's a bit special,
because we'll also see whether our two city councillors will, for the
first time ever, take up the challenge to 'report back' to residents
on their activities at City Hall

There's
more information (and probably nomination papers) at the Library, or
online here

Meanwhile,
here's my candidate's Statement. The electoral suicide note is at
the end!

As a
Stockwood resident of ten years standing, I joined the Neighbourhood
Partnership when it was created, initially representing Friends of
Stockwood Open Spaces, later as a 'resident' member. In both roles
I think I have influenced the Partnership for the better, though I
believe there's still plenty of room for improvement. Slowly (too
slowly), the NP is moving toward being more democratic, more
representative, and more influential, but it needs members who are
ready to challenge the status quo as I have done in the past.

I'm
proud to say that I've taken a significant part in most NP backed
initiatives, not least establishing priorities on new open space
amenities, (including suggesting the seats on the Showering Road path
and the new bridge across the Saltwell Valley brook), taking part in
community litter-picks, making the Stockwood Local Food Festival
happen, and bringing the outdoor table tennis table to the shopping
square. I've had a part, too, in proposing and improving public
transport services. If re-elected, I aim to continue on the same
lines. One priority is getting a community notice board at the
shops.

I
bring a generally 'green' approach to the Partnership. So (boy
racers please note) if the Partnership is asked to take a view on the
ward's speed limits being brought down to 20mph, I shall argue that
greater safety and lower noise pollution outweigh any journey time
losses.

About this Blog

This one's from the little known Bristolian outpost of Stockwood, first settled by city expats back in the fifties. Leafy, open, and close to the countryside.... until they grub up the Green Belt and open spaces to build an 'urban extension'.

Written by an adoptive Stockwoodsman, arrived from the wild north-east back in 2004, this blog sets out to look at Stockwood and Bristol issues, mostly from a green perspective